The Department of the Air Force confirmed April 8 that Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana are its preferred locations for nuclear microreactors under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program, developed with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
Malmstrom Air Force Base and Buckley Space Force Base selected as potential locations for nuclear microreactors, ensuring uninterrupted operations and strengthening national security.
Learn more: https://t.co/aDJKghCqzk
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) April 11, 2026
The selection places Malmstrom at the center of two simultaneous nuclear modernization programs. On-base construction is scheduled to begin this summer to construct new, modular silos for Northrop Grumman’s LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which will replace the Minuteman III missiles maintained on continuous alert by the 341st Missile Wing.
The base will now host an independent atomic power source, a convergence the Air Force has explicitly framed as a critical ‘mission assurance’ tool to keep nuclear operations online during a total grid failure.
“By advancing the use of next-generation nuclear energy, the DAF is strengthening the energy security of our power projection platforms,” said Nancy Balkus, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for infrastructure, energy, and environment.
Buckley, headquarters of Space Delta 4, which provides missile warning and space domain awareness for the United States and its allies, was selected based on infrastructure, land availability, and mission requirements, the Air Force stated.
Our energy security is a top priority.
The Department of the Air Force has selected 2 bases as potential sites for nuclear microreactors. The microreactors would be deployed on DAF installations to strengthen our energy security.
More: https://t.co/NvjC0HsVNr pic.twitter.com/KTrD1axUYf
— United States Space Force (@USSpaceForce) April 13, 2026
Both bases are targeted for reactor deployment by 2030, pending environmental review and Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing. Commercial vendors will own and operate the reactors.
In a separate move, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg formally established the Economic Defense Unit (EDU) through a two-page memorandum obtained by DefenseScoop, directing it to integrate capital deployment, trade policy, tariffs, and export controls into joint military planning.
The EDU director will report directly to Feinberg as his principal advisor on economic competition.
The Pentagon’s fiscal year 2027 budget request allocates $593 million in research, development, test, and evaluation funding for the unit.
Semafor reported in March that the EDU is recruiting senior bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Bank of America for a 30-person investment team targeting roughly $200 billion in deployments over three years.
The SOF Week 2026 agenda lists George Kollitides as EDU director, slated to speak at the Tampa conference May 18 to 21.
